UK Government agrees to look at issues with glaring headlights

On 16 January, a group led by Baroness Dianne Hayter, met with the Department for Transport at their offices in Whitehall to discuss their concerns about vehicle headlights with the UK Government. As well as LightAware, the group included representatives from the House of Lords, the RAC, the College of Optometrists and IAM RoadSmart. The meeting was with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Lord Davies of Gower, Department for Transport officials, and engineers from the International Vehicle Standards Team.

Dr John Lincoln from LightAware’s representative on the team explained the development of LED technology in recent years and how LEDs differ greatly from halogen lighting, and that manufacturers are making lights smaller and bluer compared to previous headlights. The representative from the College of Optometrists explained that an increasing number of patients across all age groups are reporting being dazzled, including younger patients who have recently started driving.

Lord Davies was supportive and agreed to consider our requests sympathetically. We were made aware of the slow speed of regulatory change, for example, new regulations for automatic alignment of headlights won’t come into force until 2027 and will take several years to have a significant impact. 

Two further reports are expected to be published in the near future, from the College of Optometrists and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. They are expected to confirm that headlight glare is a real and urgent problem. 

LightAware will continue to campaign on this widespread problem, please join our campaign and write to your political representatives, telling them how glaring headlights are affecting your life.

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